Sindh Police fail to get 20 abductees released

KARACHI: All efforts of the Sindh Police have become ineffective to get more than 20 abductees released as majority of them were kidnapped by gangs of dacoits by luring them through female voice in some districts of upper Sindh.

Police sources informed ‘The News’ that this became a decade-old modus operandi of dacoit gangs active in area of Sindh province bordering Punjab-Balochistan to converse with their targeted victims in female voice on telephone and caught them in their web by befriending them on cell phone. These dacoits were successful in luring many people from Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan.

Sources added that in some of cases, dacoits after luring their targets paid money to them to get them in confidence and after the passage of many days, one dacoit who remained engaged with his target in female voice insists his target on meeting him and as target reaches the appointed place, he is picked and taken away to their hideout.

Earlier on Monday, Inspector and Station House Officer (SHO) of Police Station Karampur Ali Hassan was martyred and two police officials wounded seriously while a search operation was conducted to get the abductees in Kashmore district released. In September 2015, in the same area a joint team of police and Rangers also came under attack of dacoits, leaving DSR Jawed Meo dead on the spot and DSR Asif Bungash seriously wounded.

According to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kashmore-Kandhkot Basheer Ahmed Brohi, a gang of dacoits headed by Nawab Jagirani alias ‘Inni Minni’ is holding some people hostage for ransom and police have launched an operation against this gang.

In 2008, the Ghotki police busted a gang of kidnappers engaged in abducting people after luring them by female voice; gang was successful in charming 18 people from Punjab and six from Sindh in 30 months.

A local journalist of Ghotki, Rizwan Bhutto is also in the custody of the dacoits. The said gangs of dacoits some years back had kidnapped a family consisting of man, his wife and four children of district Nausheroferoze, family was trapped and reached willfully at Ranwanti area of Ghotki when a dacoit gang leader succeeded to inspire head of family as spiritual leader (Pir) on cell phone and directed him to reach at Kacha area along with all the members family. The family then was released after receiving heavy ransom.

A senior bureaucrat of Balochistan government, a British citizen of Pakistani origin and many literate persons also remained hostage after being lured by female voice some years back in same area and released after the payment of heavy money as ransom.

Upper Sindh and south Punjab are infamous for gangs of robbers who indulge in kidnapping and other illegal activities, operating out of katcha and bordering areas of Sindh-Punjab where accessibility of Law Enforcing Agencies is difficult.

Deputy inspector General Larkana Abdullah Sheikh told The News that heavy operation against the criminals and notorious gangs is underway under the supervision of senior police officials and hopefully police will apprehend these gangs and all abductees would be released safely.